


peculiar

by flannypack



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-12
Updated: 2017-10-12
Packaged: 2019-01-16 11:22:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12341682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flannypack/pseuds/flannypack
Summary: “Where are you going?”“Who’s asking?”Jooehon had to stop walking at the question.---baby jooheon, maybe 10 or 11, has a friend. a mysterious friend, not much older than he, who despite being genuinely kind, gives him the heebie-jeebies sometimes.





	peculiar

“Where are you going?” 

“Who’s asking?” 

Jooehon had to stop walking at the question. Hoseok stopped a moment after him, the corners of his full lips still curled into his impish smile. He made a point to meet Jooheon’s eyes when the kid’s meek gaze was searching for something tangible to settle on. Quickly, Jooheon averted his stare. He decided he should opt for just continuing to look at his shoes. 

“I am. I just asked.” 

Had Jooheon maintained his eye contact with Hoseok, he would’ve seen the way his smile immediately blossomed into a full-blown grin. 

“So you did. But what kind of authority do you have to know the answer?” 

This question was much less confusing, although it was exceptionally more difficult to answer. Jooheon tugged at his earlobe in idle. 

“I don’t have any authority to know. Why do I need authority to know?” 

“What if it’s _super_ personal? What if I need to trust you to keep it confidential if I’m going somewhere bad?” 

“What does ‘confidential’ mean?” 

The older of the two laughed at that, the sudden sound making Jooheon’s head whip back up in surprise. For a moment, he caught a glimpse of how Hoseok laughed. 

His upper lip pulled back to show a top row of straight, white teeth, and glittering pink gums, and if Jooheon was just a little bit taller than him, he’d see his tongue and down his throat. Jooheon’s ears felt a little warm. He pulled at his ear lobe some more. 

“I’m going to a friend’s house,” Hoseok finally said. His toothy grin disappeared back behind his lips, but the quirked corners of his mouth remained. Jooheon felt his shoulders relax. For a second he thought he was gonna get fussed at for being too nosy. 

He nodded a little and let a brief silence fill the air, giving himself a bit of time to sit on the answer he got. Then, he braced himself to ask more questions, and to receive more convoluted answers.

“I wouldn’t know him, would I?” 

Hoseok bunched up his shoulders around his jaw. 

“I don’t think so.” 

Jooheon nodded again. 

“But he’s pretty cool, right?” 

This time, Hoseok’s laugh wasn’t much of a laugh. In fact, Jooheon wasn’t quite sure that the sound he made was a laughing sound at all. But he’d never seen Hoseok do much of anything else. 

“He’s pretty mean.” 

Jooheon’s eyebrows knitted. He had to look up at the other boy again, if only to check for that weird fondness people usually had in their expressions when they meant to insult their friends. Jooheon didn’t hear that weird fondness in Hoseok’s voice, so he had to look at him. Hoseok was only looking at him back, meeting Jooheon’s gaze with his ever-lasting smile. 

“Your... Friend?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Does he… Mean to be mean?” 

Jooheon hadn’t even realized they’d been nearing the end of the street until Hoseok began to slow down. The apartment to the left of them sat above a small diner, to which Hoseok turned, his hands balling themselves up into his black jacket. Jooheon looked over at the diner as well, wondering if Hoseok had seen someone familiar through the window, or if he was searching for that mean friend, perhaps. He momentarily acted as if he were scouring the diner from afar as well, wanting to see if his act of investment in Hoseok’s unnamed cause would get him an answer. When Hoseok opened his mouth, Jooheon forgot about his efforts. 

“I think so.” 

In spite of his mean friend, Hoseok continued to smile. Jooheon felt his stomach drop, which he hadn’t at all expected to happen, so promptly he felt a bit ill as well. 

“Why are you friends with someone who’s mean to you for real?”

If Hoseok had maintained eye contact, he would’ve seen how Jooheon began to hold his belly as his expression grew uncomfortable, and his free hand went to his ear to begin pulling it raw. 

“Because sometimes mean people have something good to offer. I’m not going to give up everything else he might have to give me just because he’s mean.”

**Author's Note:**

> hoseok is like, what, 14 or 15? also i am aware that when jooheon was this young his name wasn't jooheon, but i didnt feel like explaining why it wasn't if i used his birth name.


End file.
